Bedding A Rifle By Pat Sheehy

I like your bedding.I don't think it's a complicated as some try to make it.I've been bedding the lugs on my rifles with 5min epoxy for 18yrs.Anymore,I've got to where I usually just free float and bed the recoil lug.I like the 6min epoxy gel for my bedding these days.It's a little thicker than the 5min epoxy,but either one will work fine.I really like the 5min epoxy for sealing the wood stock when removing the pressure point at the forearm tip.I just put a little on the finger tip of a nitrile gloved hand and wipe it over the sanded area to seal it.Works great.Here's some photos of one I did Flickr: baldhunter's Photostream rifle was a great shooter.I hadn't shot it for a while and when I took it to the range,it wouldn't shoot worth a darn.I removed the stock and found the finish had a reaction to a lubricant used on it and stuck to the barrel.I also noticed the recoil inlet was not making full contact with the rear of the recoil lug,so I removed the pressure point at the tip and sealed it,then put some Snow Seal as a releasing agent on the recoil lug,filled the recoil inlet about 1/2-3/4 full with 6min epoxy and put her back together.She now will shoot 1/2" groups.

Very informative article. I have two questions, will bedding a sythetic stock really make much of a difference and will the bedding last long in a synthetic stock? I have a Savage Model 11 in 243 that I am thinking of either doing a bedding job or simply getting a new stock.

Hate to answer your question with another question but what are you looking to get out of the rifle? If it's a brush gun that just needs to hold MOA out to 200 yards then no bedding probably won't make much of a difference. If you're looking to extend the effective range of a gun by tightening up groups, then the more you can stabilize the action and reduce stress induced by the stock the better.

I've seen people modify Savage tupperware and come up with pretty good stocks. Most of the pretty standard stuff is bedding and then reinforcing the forend with fiberglass, epoxy, threaded rod, etc.

If you are looking for the most accuracy out of your rig, I would recommend bedding if you get a new stock or keep the synthetic one. ( With a caveat. Some stocks with bedding blocks are designed specifically to not need bedding. The Whidden Block jumps to mind as an example) With the variability in action making and stock making, it's pretty much dumb luck if you get a stock that fits your action without imparting some sort of stress on it. There may be others but epoxy bedding is the simplest method that I've found to custom fit an action to a stock.

As far as how long bedding will last, I've heard people bad mouthing certain epoxies saying that they are brittle or degrade. I personally have never actually seen any epoxy bedding fail. Mine sure haven't and I can't say that I've been careful about keeping solvent and things off of them. If anyone has an example of bedding failing or degrading I'd hope they'd share as all I've experienced is talk.

Like baldhunter, I've switched over to using a gel epoxy to do most of my bedding. It's so much easier when the epoxy stays where you put it! I recently read about a guy using dryer lint to thicken epoxy and give it some structure, similar to mixing in fiberglass. I'm planning on giving that a try in the near future too to see how that works out.

I've also switched from bearing grease as a release agent to using clear Kiwi shoe polish. It gives a really thin layer and isn't nearly as messy.

I like pro bed or have used JB weld quite a bit. I like to throw in some score high alum. pillars, they are action specific and threaded so you can micro adjust, and only $10 bucks, probaly less if you know how to source them.